Why the Cross?: Easter 2016
This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, March 27, 2016.
Intro:
Companies spend billions of dollars a year developing logos. What is a logo? If you see five rings interlocked, three on top and two on the bottom, you know it is connected to the Olympic Games. When you are driving and you see the “golden arches” you know there’s a quarter pounder with your name on it. A logo is a symbol or picture that identifies a product or company. When you see that logo you think immediately of that company and its values. This is why companies zealously guard and protect their logo. In essences the church has its logo – the cross. The cross symbolizes the heart and soul, the essences, of the Christian message. Yes, there is more to the Christian message than the cross but the message of our faith is not less than the cross. In fact the apostle Paul states it beautifully in 1 Corinthians 2:1-2:
And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
I “decided” = I determined
“I made it my business to know nothing other than the cross.”
Certainly Paul did not mean this literally.
He spoke of other things – ethical issues, church issues, and the like.
He used hyperbole for a point of emphasis.
He was stressing the central role of the cross in all of Christian thinking.
In fact Paul was alluding to the fact that without the cross there is no Christian message.
Without the message of Christ crucified, there is no Gospel.
If there is no Gospel there is no Christianity.
Let me ask you, “Do you think the atonement (the death of Christ for the sins of the world) is central to people’s thinking today?” Is this the burning issue in the hearts and minds of men and woman today?
Hardly!
People today will say, “I’m not a Christian. I mean that stuff may be alright for you but I don’t need it.” “I don’t need Jesus.” “I don’t need the church.” “I don’t need Christianity.”
They don’t need any of it because they do not understand God or themselves.
Honestly, no one is chasing me down and asking, “What must I do to be saved?”
The Gospel, the story of Christ and the cross, may be interesting but it’s just not relevant.
It’s not relevant because they do not understand that God is the sovereign king of the universe who has established his holy law and that they have violated that law. They do not understand that their willful disobedience has stirred his divine wrath and they have become not the object of his loving care and grace but the object of his holy justice. They do not understand that apart from repentance and faith they will feel the full force of his holy wrath.
Until you are diagnosed with cancer the various treatment options are of passing interest. Once you know that you are locked in a battle with that dreaded decease it becomes the consuming passion of your life. Then cancer becomes personal and you are now fully engaged.
The point is until sin and judgment become a reality for you – you will not understand your need for a Savior. Christianity operates on the primary assumption that man is in need of salvation.
This morning I want to take just a few minutes and walk through the gospel as we ask the question, “Why the cross?”
- The righteousness of God demands it. (Matthew 5:48)
- The sinfulness of man requires it. (Romans 3:23; 6:23)
- How does the cross solve our problem? (1 Peter 3:18; Colossians 1:19-22)
Conclusion:
If I could be justified only by actually becoming just and having no sin – I would never see the kingdom of God. The point of the Gospel is the moment you are united to Christ, all that He has done is applied to you. This is why I say, “I am saved by works.” Not my works but the works of Christ!
Apart from Christ there is no hope.
Our hope is found in the one who was made like us – yet without sin.
He is our Savior, our Redeemer, our Substitute, our Righteousness.
That is the Gospel.
That is the meaning of Easter.
That is your only hope.